Meanings
by Nalina
Summary: Flonne comes home late from a trip to Celestia. One-shot.


It was far later than she'd intended to arrive back at the castle from Celestia. She hadn't thought her trip would take even half as long as it had ended up taking. Even worse was that she hadn't actually had the chance to tell him she'd been gone. She'd thought it would be okay; that she'd be back before he'd even notice, but that was before she'd ended up being gone the entire day.

Although she was exhausted, she was eager to see him. There was, however, a certain amount of dread in the pit of her stomach too. It had been more than several hundred years since they'd met now. They'd grown very close and she felt like she knew him better than ever. Which meant, of course, she had a pretty good idea of how he was going to react to her being gone the whole day. He'd probably be angry she hadn't told him she'd be gone. He'd probably been worried too.

He still never liked to admit things like worry, but she'd long ago learned to read him. It was fairly rare that she didn't know what was really on his mind. There weren't many though who could understand the truth behind his actions and words. Worry was especially easy to pick out.

Flonne knocked lightly on the large door to his room, before pushing the heavy thing open, peeking in, "…Laharl? I'm sorry, I—-eh?"

The room was unexpectedly rather dark and there was no obvious sign he was there at all, which confused her. She'd been told he was most definitely in his room. Where was he? She pushed the door closed behind her before walking further into his chamber. "Laharl?"

Suddenly, she felt strong arms grab her and shove her down into the large coffin that sat in the middle of the room. She cried out in surprise, as she felt someone lean over her, pinning her hands above her head with a single hand. She squirmed a little in protest, but escape seemed impossible. He had her trapped!

Two angry crimson eyes glared down at her. "Hmph! Vassals shouldn't keep their Overlords waiting."

He didn't give her a chance to reply before forcing her chin towards him with his free hand and crushing his lips to hers. "Mmph… Mh-hr-l…" was all she managed before he tried to deepen the kiss.

Admittedly, this wasn't the reaction she'd expected and really only served to remind her how tired she was. Luckily he seemed to realize there was a lack of enthusiasm on her part. Opening his eyes, their gazes met and the look on her face made him hesitate. He broke the kiss, lifting his head to look down at her, with furrowed brows. "What?"

"…Laharl." It had been a long day, and it was clear in her tone.

He seemed to understand. The facade crumbled; his game was over. He pouted down at her instead. He was always so cute when he pouted, no matter how much he argued he wasn't. "Tch, you never let me have any fun…" Laharl muttered as he released her wrists and rested his arm beside her head instead, fingers burrowing into her locks.

"I'm the _Overlord_, dammit!"

"I know."

"I don't do sweet fluffy crap!"

Except all the times he did.

"I know, Laharl."

This was hardly the first time he'd felt the need to tell her such things. He'd come to open up to showing her a much gentler side, but occasionally he seemed to like reminding her he was still a big, mean Overlord. It was silly, but she didn't really mind usually. Maybe Etna had been teasing him again today about it. Either way, she knew exactly what to do in this situation: Flonne smiled up at him gently, full of love and understanding and that's all it took. He couldn't resist that. The Overlord sighed in utter defeat, resting his head against her shoulder for a moment.

"I hate you," was mumbled.

_I love you._

She just giggled in reply as she slid an arm around the back of his neck, hugging him softly.

Laharl lifted his head once more, after a long moment. He hesitated, then gently tilted her chin again, this time softly pressing his lips to the edge of her jaw, sending a pleasant tingle down her neck. "I've been waiting all night for you. Where the hell have you been?"

_I missed you._

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Laharl," she apologized quietly as she found herself relaxing. "I…it… um, it was complicated."

"Complicated, huh? Well… whatever. We'll talk about that later," he replied, apparently deciding to not care for the moment. He seemed content enough that she was here now. "You don't have any other plans tonight, right?" A second kiss to her jawline sent another tingle through her.

Plans? This late? It was a silly question, but this time Flonne played along, shaking her head. "Not anymore."

He lifted his head and grinned down at her, looking pleased, "Good."

Laharl pressed his lips to hers again, kissing her with a surprising amount of tenderness. The angel closed her eyes, letting out a happy sigh as she returned the kiss. It didn't take long for it to deepen, but a knock on the door was ready to put an end to it. …Or not. Laharl didn't pull away at first, but by the time a second knocking occurred, he slowly pulled away, lips still brushing against hers, not really wanting to stop.

"Hey, Prince!" Etna's muffled voice from the other side of the door was unmistakable. "Come on, it's important!"

A growl erupted from Laharl's throat as he finally lifted his head, turning it towards the door, "Gah! Dammit, what the hell is it, Etna? I'm busy!"

"The prinnies found a stack of papers that needed to be signed."

"…So? I'll do them tomorrow."

"They needed signatures last week, Prince."

"…So? Forge my signature. I know you do it all the time anyways."

"What? No, I don't! What are you talking about, Prince?"

"Go on, Laharl," Flonne said, barely above a whisper.

Laharl frowned looking down at Flonne, clearly not really wanting to leave her. "But…"

"Go, it shouldn't take too long, right?" she said, giving him a smile again.

He sighed slowly and leaned down, giving her a soft, lingering kiss.

"…So. Uh. Prince?" Etna called, undoubtedly wondering why things had suddenly gone rather silent from where she stood, out in the hallway.

Breaking away, Laharl sat up, pausing to look down at Flonne hopefully, "You'll still be here when I get back, right?"

_Wait for me?_

"I'll stay right here," she replied, reaching up to straighten the scarf around his neck.

"Good."

"…Prince~?"

"Dammit, I'm coming Etna!" he yelled, as he got to his feet and went to the door. Flonne could see him glaring at Etna as he slipped through the doorway. "Those better be some DAMN important papers."

The room went dark once more as he pulled the door shut.

"Don't worry, you'll be back to making out with Flonne in no time."

"Pffttwhat?! I was not making out with her!"

"Soooo~ you don't deny Flonne was in there with you?"

"I..I didn't say that!"

"Your face sure is~"

"S-SHUT UP, ETNA!"

Flonne just smiled to herself as she listened to Etna and Laharl's voices grow distant as they headed off deeper into the castle. She was sure he'd be back in no time.

* * *

AN:_ A random drabble I wrote some years ago, but recently tweaked and posted on tumblr. Got do it'd to post it here too. SO yeah. lol_


End file.
